The Effect of Teenage Pregnancy

Early pregnancy is quickly becoming one of the most common problems in first-world countries. Teenagers range from ages thirteen to eighteen, and get pregnant for many different reasons; the causes of teenage pregnancy include lack of discipline, feelings of not being loved and cared for, overprotective parents, lack of parents’ guidance and supervision, sexual abuse or rape, childhood environment, failure of sex education, and neglect or improper use of birth control. There are many causes of teenage pregnancy and its consequences are life changing.

Teenagers with busy parents have no time to guide and support them are more likely to get pregnant. Communication between parents and children, which is part of the family bonding, become weak. A teen who does not feel that she can talk to her parents about sex will turn to friends, movies or videos that will most likely give wrong information. The lack of affection from the family will push them to have an intimate relationship elsewhere.

Teenage pregnancy can also be a result of failure to teach the necessary sex education from both the school and parents. They then get engaged in sexual contact without any knowledge about contraception or proper use of birth control. Parents are still hesitant to discuss sex with their kids, and are just content with whatever sex education offered by school. According to a survey poll by National Public Radio, Sex Education in America Foundation, and Harvard's Kennedy School National Survey on Sex Education, a majority of Americans agree that sex education should be taught in schools. The debate continues to this day whether to teach a broad sex education curriculum to school.

Children of overprotective parents can also be rebellious. They cannot make their own decision and some get tired of it by doing things against their parents will. They turn to friends who are into alcohol and drugs or find security and love they are looking for to the opposite sex and are more likely to get pregnant. They find happiness away from the sight of their parents. Stemming from that, however, some children, no matter how great their parents are, are just too stubborn and does what they think will make them happy without consideration to how it will affect others. They are prone to bad influences, sexual escapades, and early pregnancy that will lead them to miserable life.The effect of teenage pregnancy in the society is a serious issue. School dropouts are the leading effects of pregnancy; they cannot handle the burden of studying and taking care of their baby after birth. Because of their responsibility to the newborn baby, they choose to stay home to take care of the kids. Many teen moms may find it difficult or impossible to support the kids because they did not get the proper education so the career option is limited resulting to poverty. But there are others who pursue their dream to finish college education and becoming a good parent.

Teenage pregnancy is most common in the USA, despite the government campaigns to teach sex education in schools. According to The National Campaign, the teenage pregnancy rate declined from 1990 to 2008, therefore teenagers are becoming aware of the negative impacts of early pregnancy. If pregnancy happened to one member of the family, all we need is to give them the support they needed instead of blaming them, for sure they already learned their lesson for what they have done wrong. Teenage pregnancy is a life-long commitment that needs serious attention.

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Sex Ed is an issue that persists in all countries of the world. It's always a debate about whether it should be kept inside the household or should the government intervene. With these debates, kids will turn to, as you said, unhelpful sources. If we could just determine who should handle the counseling, maybe teen pregnancy won't be such a prevalent issue.

Sex Ed for me isn't the government or the school's duty, it's for the parents or guardians to teach the kids at the right time. If it were me I'd try to keep the kids as innocent (not ignorant) for as long as we can, as it should be. So they can enjoy their childhood to the fullest. Proper parenting can solve this issue.

Whoa, there's really an increasing number of teenage pregnancies in the country. I think the lack of affection from the parents and the lack of guidance as you said are the primary reasons why this happens. I have three cousins who experienced the same and now they're young moms whose boyfriends didn't end up supporting the children.

Sex education should start at home. But the thing is, most parents are really afraid to talk about sex with the kids. Most kids are taught sex being flat out dirty. And it is something that shouldn't be brought up over family conversations. I believe if the parent really knows how to talk to kids about sex with the right words at the right time, then there's less likely to have a problem with matters regarding this.

Some teenagers are lucky to have supportive parents. I pity the most those teenagers who were abandoned by their partner and their family as well. Those who single-handedly manage the world of being a parent at a young age.

Teenage pregnancy is a life-long commitment that needs serious attention. Indeed! It's not easy to raise kids I witness it from my sister who got pregnant early. But I'm proud of her because she was able to manage time for her kids, for herself and for our family.

Teenage pregnancies are indeed very random nowadays. I don't want to blame anyone but a teenager's curiosity to sex and the exposure to pornography at an early age could contribute to this. I admire those that didn't abort their kids, but prevention is always better than cure.

It is very challenging to be a teenage parent. Although many have survived it and turned out to be exceptional parents, the responsible thing to do is to have a child when one is ready to give the proper care and guidance.